A review by linaherondale
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 It's only 100 pages but it's a punch in the guts. It's a book I would recommend to everyone. Adania Shibli, a palestinian writer, recounts the story of a young Bedouin palestinian girl who was gang r*ped and killed by iof soldiers in 1949, a year after the Nakba. Decades later, a young woman living in Ramallah decides to look into this "minor detail" of history and crosses the borders of occupation to go after the truth. 
I've rarely read books with such skillful writing. Through a spiralling narration that felt almost out of breathe, the author encapsulates the anxiety and terror of living under occupation and the alienation of a people dispossed of their land as well as the dehumanization of the colonial project. Mostly, despite taking place decades ago, this story read as  awfully relevant to the horrors happening in Palestine right now. It's  a testimony of how the past haunts the present. 
This is a must-read!! 
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